Electric connecter



March 27, 1934. N. H. WATTS 1,952,188

sLEdfrRIc. comm-gm Filed Aug. 26", 1933 Inventor:

y HmAtt orney.

Noble H. W tts,

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Patented Mar. 27, 1934 ELECTRIC CONNECTER Noble 11. Watts, Bridgeport,Conn., assignor to General Electric Company, incorporation of New YorkApplication Augu t 26, 1933, Serial No. 686,933

' 4 Claims.

My invention relates to an electric connecter and more particularly to aconnecter provided with a housing of resilient material.

Inthe provision of connecters for outdoor use,

it is necessary to protect the terminals by a material which isresistant to atmospheric-conditions and which will withstand hard usage.Rubber is an excellent material for housing the terminals from the pointof view of its resistance to atmospheric conditions and also because ofits ability to withstand hard usage. However, dimculty is encounteredbecause of the fact that rubber is very rapidly deteriorated on contactwith an electric arc.

The object of my invention is to provide an electric connecter foroutdoor use which is provided with a housing of resilient material with1 means for protecting the housing from the arc.

Another object of'my invention is toprovide an electric connecter whichis of low cost of manufacture and which is easy to assemble.

What I consider be novel and myinvention will be better under tood byreference to the following specificatio and appended claims whenconsidered in connection with the accompanying drawing.-

In the drawing, Fig. 1 is a perspective view of my improved connecter;Fig. 2 is an exploded view of the parts of the connecter with thehousing -removed; Fig. 31s a view similar to Fig. 2

with the parts of the connecter assembled together; Fig. 4 is a view ofthe connecter partly in section; and Fig. 5 is a view in section of amodified form of the connecter.-

Referring to the drawing, in which like parts of the several flguresareindicated by the same numerals, numerals 10 and 11 indicateresilientterminal members formed of two metal strips of arcuate shrpeand-placed side by side to receive contact pins. At the lower ends 12and 13 of terminals l0 and 11 respectively, the two metal strips arepressed together and apertures provided for the reception of electricconductors. Connected to terminal members 10 and 11 are conductors 14and 15 respectively which are provided with individual covers of rubberinsulation 16 and 17 and an overall rubber. covering 18. Housing 19 ofmolded rubbermaterial-is provided for the terminal members 10 and 11 andthe portions of conductors 14 and 15 from which the overall rubberjacket 18 is removed to make the connection to terminals 10 and 11.Housing 19 serves to protect terminal members 10 and 11 and thebared'ends of conductors 1'4 and 15 from the effects of atmosphericconditions and also provides a resilient cushion for the terminalmembers to protect them from the hard usage to which a connecter foroutdoor use is frequently subjected.

To protect the rubber or other resilient material, of which housing 19is formed, from the 00 effects of the are which may be drawn on themaking or breaking of a circuit through terminal members 10 and 11,metal'tubes 20 and 21 are provided and arranged to form a chamber aboutterminal members 10 and 11 closed at the end to adjacent the lowerportions 12 and 13. The tubes 20 and 21 extend beyond the upper ends ofterminal members 10 and 11 to provide suflicient protection for thehousing 19 from any are which may extend to the contact pins as theymove out of engagement with terminals 10 and 11. Tubes 20 and 21 arepressed into engagement with the lower portions 12 and 13 of terminalmembers 10' and 11 to hold the tubes in engagement with the terminalmembers and also to prevent the material of housing 19 entering betweentubes 20 and 21 and terminal members 10 and 11 during the molding of thehousing 19. when the housing 19 is being molded pins are placed in theopen ends of tubes 20 and 21 to prevent the 50 entrance of thematerialin the open ends of the tubes and also to form openings 22 and 23 inhousing 19 communicating with tubes 20 and 21 for the access of pins toterminal members 10 and 11. Tubes 20 and 21 serve to thoroughly :5

protect the material of housing 19 from the effects of any are which maybe drawn on the making or breaking of a circuit with terminal members 10an 11. In addition, tubes 20 and 21 provide arcing surfaces removed fromthe normal contact surfaces of terminal members 10 and 11 which preventpitting of these contact surfaces. The terminal members 10 and 11 areprotected mechanically by tubes 20 and 21 which are floating in housing19 of resilient material and provide a connecter that will withstandconsiderable hard usage without any liability of damage to the parts ofthe connecter. Tubes 20 and 21 also provide a wall with which the terloominal memberslo and 11 make contact when the metal strips of which theyare formed are forced outwardly by engagement with contact pinsandassist in producing a force of resistance which increases the contactpressure which maybe obm tained between the terminal members 10 and 11and. pins inserted therein. Another important function of tubes 20 and21 is to prevent the en- 'trance of the material of housing 19 aroundtermembers 10 andll during its molding no which would interfere with theuse of the connecter by preventing free access of contact pins toterminal members 10 and 11.

In Fig. 5 a modified form of connecter is shown Y which is adapted toreceive the usual flat blade of an attachment cap plug. A terminalmember 24 is formed from a fiat strip of metal and is provided with aprojection 25 which is adapted to engage the hole usually provided inthe end of an attachment cap blade to retain the blade -in Dosition.Terminal member 24 is provided. with a projection 26 which is spacedfrom the contact surface adjacent projection 25 which provides an arcingsurface removed from the contact surface to protect the contact surfacefrom pitting by arcs drawn on the removal of a contact blade fromengagement with the terminal member. A

tube housing 27 for the terminal member is provided which is of ovalshape and closely engages the terminal member 24 at one end and isprovided with an enlarged open end 28. The enlarged end 28 is adapted toreceive a bushing 29 of insulating material which protects housing 27from the effects of the arcs drawn on removal of the contact blade.Bushing 29 is made of some high arc resisting insulating material suchas porcelain or the. like. Housing 27 protects terminal member 24 in thesame manner that tubes 20 and 21 protect terminals 10 and 11 as shown inFigs. 2 and 3. The projection 25 of terminal member 24 in addition tosecuring a contact blade in position when the cennecter is'in use alsoserves to hold a plug in position during the molding of housing ofresilient material about the parts of the connecter to prevent theentrance of the molded material in the open end ofthe housing 2'7. Thebushing 29 prolongs the life of the connecter by protecting the metalhousing 2'1 from the effects of the arcs drawn on the re-.

necter is provided of simple construction, of relatively low cost ofmanufacture, highly resistant to the efiects of atmospheric-conditions,and cas pable of withstanding hard usage.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by .Letters Patent of theUnited States is:

sulating material housing said terminal members and tubes and havingopenings communicating with the open ends of said tubes.

2. An electric connecter comprising resilient terminal members, metaltubes surrounding said terminal members and forming chambers closed atone end and extending beyond the terminal members at the other end,conductors connected to the terminal members adjacent the. closed endsof the tubes, and a body of resilient insulating material housingsaidterminal members and tubes and having openings communicating with theopen ends of said tubes.

3. An electric connecter comprising resilient terminal members, metaltubes surrounding said terminal members with one end of the tubesclosely engaging the terminal members to form chambers about theterminal members closed at one end, the metal tubes extending at theopen ends beyond the ends of the terminal members, conductors connectedto said terminal members adjacent the closed ends of the tubes, and abody of molded rubber housing said terminal members and tubes and havingopenings communicating with the open ends of the tubes.

4. An electric connecter comprising resilient terminal members, metaltubes surrounding said terminal members with an enlarged open end andthe other end closely engaging the terminal members to form chambersabout the terminal members closed at one end, a bushing of insulatingmaterial located in the enlarged open end of the metal tubes, conductorsconnected to said terminal members adjacent the closed ends of thetubesgand a. ha ,of molded rubber housing said terminal members andtubes and having openings communicating with the. open ends of thetubes.

NOBLE H. WATTS.

